Low-THC

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE — State health officials have named the three members of a panel that will choose five nurseries to be Florida’s first legal pot growers, setting in motion the final stages of the drawn-out process to get Florida’s new medical-marijuana industry off the ground.

The Department of Health tapped two of its own workers — Christian Bax, executive director of the agency’s Office of Compassionate Use, and Ann Filloon, fiscal unit director of the Division of Children’s Medical Services — to serve on the committee. Joining them is Patricia Nelson, a special adviser to Gov. Rick Scott who was Bax’s predecessor and shepherded the creation of the industry’s preliminary guidelines, including the applications from growers.

Under a rule generated early this year, the selection committee must be comprised of the chief of the Office of Compassionate Use, an accountant and a member of the governor’s Statewide Drug Advisory Policy Council appointed by the state surgeon general, who also serves as the secretary of the Department of Health. It is unclear when Nelson, who stepped down from her post at the health department last month to return to Scott’s inner office, was appointed to the drug advisory council.

Many of the applicants seeking to become one of the five licensees to grow, process and distribute non-euphoric pot products, authorized by the Legislature and Scott last year, welcomed Nelson’s presence on the panel.

“I think it’s a good selection. Patty’s knowledgeable. She’s certainly been involved in the history of the rule-making,” said Jeff Sharkey, a lobbyist who formed the Medical Marijuana Business Association of Florida and is affiliated with two nurseries seeking licenses. “They need someone with some knowledge, some history and some experience to evaluate effectively who are the best applicants.”

Twenty-four nurseries — who have joined forces with consultants, investors and out-of-state pot growers — are seeking to be one of the fortunate five “dispensing organizations” with licenses to grow cannabis that is low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and high in cannabadiol, or CBD. Parents of children with a severe form of epilepsy pushed the Legislature last year to approve the low-THC cannabis, believing it can end or dramatically reduce life-threatening seizures.

Doctors who have undergone special training were supposed to begin ordering the low-THC products for their patients on Jan. 1. But legal challenges and a judge’s decision last year that tossed out health officials’ first stab at a rule put implementation of the law far behind what lawmakers envisioned.

Concentrate made from high-CBD, low-THC marijuana along with syringe used for oral administration

By Dara Kam

News Service of Florida

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE– Influential Tallahassee insiders — and a former lawmaker who is the grandson of one of Florida’s most-renowned citrus barons — have banded together with the owner of an abortion clinic to get in on the ground floor of the state’s burgeoning medical-marijuana industry.

Tree King-Tree Farms, located in Quincy, disclosed its team of lobbyists, lawyers, investors and consultants in an application for one of five, highly sought-after “dispensing organization” licenses to grow, process and dispense a type of non-euphoric medical marijuana authorized last year by the Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott.

The “Northwest Compassionate Care” team, comprised of Tree King and others, includes powerful Tallahassee movers and shakers.

But the woman who assembled the coalition — a onetime Republican National Committee staffer — said she was motivated to enter the arena for personal, not political or financial, reasons.

One backer listed on the 241-page application — among the shortest of the 28 applications received by the Department of Health earlier this month — is DeVoe Moore, a wealthy Tallahassee businessman who has a center named after him at Florida State University.

Another investor is former legislator Baxter Troutman, a grandson of the late citrus magnate Ben Hill Griffin Jr., for whom the University of Florida football stadium is named.

The applicant’s legal adviser is Sam Ard, a veteran Tallahassee lobbyist and lawyer with a focus on agriculture.

Also with a small share in the operation is Louis Rotundo, a lobbyist who represents the Florida Medical Cannabis Association and has been an active participant in the development of the law and the rules governing the low-THC marijuana industry.

The application lists powerful lobbyist Billy Rubin, a close ally of the governor, as its “governmental affairs” consultant.

But Rubin, who represents a separate client seeking a license in the same Northwest region of the state, denied having anything to do with the Tree King consortium.

“We are not sure how this was listed in error, but it is important to rectify the situation,” Rubin’s lawyer said in a letter sent Monday to health regulators.

Rosier blamed the inclusion of Rubin in the application on a scramble to get the forms in before a 5 p.m. deadline on July 8. The group’s application was time-stamped at 4:57 p.m.

Rosier said she assembled the team largely through her connections as a girls’ basketball and softball coach in Tallahassee. For more than a decade, Rosier has volunteered as a coach for the YMCA and Tallahassee youth programs. She takes pride in the number of players for whom she has helped secure scholarships.

Glen and Sharon Treadwell want to get into the marijuana-growing business — legally.

Treadwell Nursery in Sorrento is building a new 27,000 square-foot greenhouse with hopes of being one of five companies throughout Florida awarded a state license to grow cannabis under the medical marijuana program — the Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act — that Gov. Rick Scott signed into law last year. The measure is aimed at treating people in pain and those battling cancer, epilepsy, ALS, multiple sclerosis and other diseases.

The cannabis extract and the dried flowers can contain no more than 0.8 percent of tetrahydrocannabinol, or low-THC, and no more than 10 percent cannabidiol, or high-CBD that would be manufactured into oils, capsules, sprays and topical creams. Florida’s law does not allow smoking or edibles.

Laws supporting cannabis for medical treatments exist in 23 states and the District of Columbia and in countries of Israel, Canada, Germany, Finland and Spain.

“Most people do not know that this law has passed,” said Glen, who has co-owned his 41-year nursery with his wife. “We want to get the word out that this has passed and it’s going to be available, and we’re absolutely convinced that it’s great medicine.”

Treadwell Nursery isn’t the only one in Lake County vying for a license to serve the central region of the state. McCrory’s Sunny Hill Nursery in Eustis, DeLeon’s Bromeliads Inc., in Mount Dora, and Spring Oaks Greenhouse Inc., in Umatilla also filed applications earlier this month with the Florida Department of Health to grow cannabis. A decision is expected within 90 days, and licenses will be awarded to a company from all five regions of the state — central, northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest.

The state’s criteria called for Florida nurseries in business for 30 years with over 400,000 plants on their premises, and the Sorrento nursery learned it was on an initial qualifying list when the company began getting calls from more than 50 people offering to handle the application process for them and the promise: “We’ll give you 15 percent of the business.”

“We really hadn’t given it much thought until people were calling us wanting to become partners with us,” Glen said. “So we started researching what it was all about.”

The couple has been joined by daughter, Jammie, in doing extensive study on the project, and wanted a team of people who were supportive of cannabis for the right reasons. They found the best support from Tom and June Simpson of Tampa Bay area who were experienced, knowledgeable of the nursery field and medical arena, and willing to provide financial support.

“We felt like we assembled the best team we possibly could. We cut no corners in finding the best people,” Glen said. “We gave it our very best.”

They filed a 1,200-plus page application, detailing the cultivation, processing and dispensing of low-TCH, high-CBD cannabis according to Florida law. More than 20 people were involved on their application from different aspects.

Glen Treadwell stands in the grow house that is being built in preparation for growing medical marijuana at Treadwell Nursery in the Lake County, Florida, town of Sorrento. (Daily Commercial Photo by Brett Le Blanc)

Glen Treadwell stands in the grow house that is being built in preparation for growing medical marijuana at Treadwell Nursery in the Lake County, Florida, town of Sorrento. (Daily Commercial Photo by Brett Le Blanc)

“We had one question that took as much as 39 pages to answer,” Glen said. Other questions asked the company’s emergency management plan, waste disposal and security detail. And all of the applicants had to pay a $60,063 non-refundable application fee. The winning companies from each region will also have to file a $5 million performance bond, and give the state another $150,000.

The Treadwells traveled to California, Colorado and Oregon to see other companies in action, and they formed a partnership with Health Research Institute in Oregon, a nonprofit that supports and expands scientific understanding of low-THC, high-CBD cannabis strains.

“The more we get into it, the more we are convinced that it is absolutely much needed. It gives hope to hopeless people,” Glen said. “People are going to be amazed what it can actually do … This is far more than we anticipated, but we wanted to be actively involved. We felt the state’s model, the legislators and the Florida Department of Health, their model was to blend the grower with experience with somebody who had experience growing cannabis.”

The applications asked nurseries about their investors, pot consultants, protocols and the types of cannabis they intend to cultivate.

Applicants had 21 days to collect documents and submit them to state health officials, a timeline many grumbled was too hasty. Some out-of-state consultants were actually charging at least $150,000 to craft the applications.

Nearly everyone in the industry, including those on the sidelines, predict that, once awarded, the licenses will be challenged.

The possibility that Florida voters could have another shot at legalizing full-blown medical marijuana in November 2016 makes the licenses even more appealing. The applications are a public record, except for information that is deemed “proprietary” or is exempt by Florida’s broad open records laws, so losers will be able to scrutinize their competitors’ winning documents.

“Everyone involved in this process has always assumed that the losers of the selection process will challenge. I think that is a given,” said Louis Rotundo, a lobbyist who represents the Florida Medical Cannabis Association.

The Treadwells have heard from people that the program is needed for their grandchildren and others suffering from health woes.

“If we get it, we’re hoping to be the first one out of the box,” Glen said. “That’s what we are preparing for, to get it out as quick as possible. There are people waiting for this.”

Corey Lowe, left, carries a picture of her daughter, Victoria Elizabeth, who was diagnosed with mitochondrial disease, as she speaks with Sarah Caruso after Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed a medical marijuana bill into law at the Statehouse, Thursday, April 16, 2015, in Atlanta. The bill makes Georgia the 38th state to have one and legalizes possession of cannabis oil for treatment of certain medical conditions. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Nathan Deal signed legislation Thursday that legalizes a non-euphoric medical marijuana extract for certain patients in Georgia, though tremendous hurdles remain for patients who want to get the drug, reports the Atlanta Constitution and others.

House Bill 1, which took effect immediately, makes it legal for people who suffer from cancer, sickle cell disease and other illnesses to possess up to 20 ounces of cannabis oil if a physician signs off.

It allows both children and adults as being eligible for treatment and requires that the oil contain no more than 5 percent THC, the high-inducing chemical associated with recreational marijuana use. It also legalizes clinical trials sought by some senators to further study how the drug works.

The state estimates hundreds of thousands of residents could be eligible for the drug, and at least 17 Georgia families have had to temporarily move to places like Colorado where the cannabis oil is legal.

The biggest obstacle for those patients remains how they’ll obtain the oil. It’s illegal to cultivate marijuana in Georgia, which means families have to trek to Colorado and other states that have legalized the drug for medical purposes. That makes travel a tricky prospect, since most states, as well as the federal government, make possessing the drug a crime.

Florida legislators last year created a non-euphoric cannabis extract law, but it has not yet been implemented due to legal challenges to the Department of Health, which is in charge of rule-making.

During the current session, lawmakers are on track for expanding the number of ailments that can be treated by the extract and for streamlining the rules that will govern licensing.

In Florida, the law requires the plants grown and the extract made from them to contain 10 percent or more of the cannabinoid known as CBD, and 0.8 of one percent or less of the cannabinoid most associated with getting high, known as THC. There is discussion going on about raising the allowable THC to a somewhat more useable level.